Both Uses of
vary
in
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter
- They'd been arriving for years, bearing cash in varying amounts and a note with a single scrawled sentence.†
p. 230.4 *varying = differing; or changing
- David must have been testing the range of his camera, keeping the subject the same and varying the focus, the aperture, the available light.†
p. 363.8
Definition:
to be different, or to change
Vary is often used to describe small differences or changes--especially about things of the same type. It would be more common to say "The weight of full-grown elephants varies depending upon diet and other factors," than to say "The weight of elephants varies from that of mice."